And so we have to consider whether Ilhan Omar's tweets are anti-Semitic. After all, she made some claims about how things work in Washington and was greeted with accusations. So here, we will be examining two sets of her tweets (click here and there). The accusation of anti-Semitism was formalized and made official in a resolution that eventually failed in Congress (click here for the resolution). In addition, the feedback that Rep. Omar is receiving is also based on a 2012 statement however I could not find that statement in time to publish this post.
Before any further examination, we must remember that just as location is to real estate so too is context to statements. In the first set of tweets linked to above, the context from which Rep. Omar seems to be speaking was her life and the people around her from both those in and out of Congress and what they have been saying to her.. The context for the second set of tweets linked to above was limited to a journalist and what she observed In Congress.
The Resolution cited above condemned her comments, without mentioning her by name, as being anti-Semitic because of the following :
- The history of anti-Semitism
- The history of America's discriminatory treatment of Japanese-American citizens during WW II and others at other times because of assumptions made about their true loyalties.
- That anti-Semitism includes hatred of the Jews and that includes the scapegoating of Jews for when things go wrong.
- That there have been false assumptions made about the loyalty of those with dual citizenships.
- State Department's working definition of anti-Semitism (click here for that definition)
- Jewish attempts to control the world
The above tells us that the historical context from which the Resolution was written justifies a certain vigilance against anti-Semitism. But that historical context does not prove the anti-Semitism allegations made against Rep. Omar.
What are we to conclude here? Considering that the first set of Omar's tweets cited above do not refer to the Jews except in a positive light, nor does it even hint at any questioning of those with dual citizenship or even mention AIPAC and its alleged paying of elected officials, the charges of anti-Semitism seems problematic. The first set of Rep. Omar's tweets revolve around herself and the allegations she faces on a regular basis regarding her loyalty to America because of her questioning of how we should support Israel. \
She states that she should not expected to be loyal to Israel. She also says that she must question America's relationship to Israel. As a result, she faces accusations on a regular basis about her own loyalty to America. This particular set of tweets is more-less a personal defense of her political views on Israel.
What about the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism. Were her first set of tweets anti-Semitic according to its definition of anti-Semitism? Here, we must first note that there are three problems with the State Department's definition. First one sign of anti-Semitism consists of accusing Jewish individuals of being more loyal to Israel than one's own nation. Such a statement is problematic because it implies that no Jewish individuals will be more loyal to Israel than one's own nation. And not only has such an implication never been proven, it is untestable because to test the statement seems to qualify as Anti-Semitism. Thus, one must accept that criteria without questioning it. Here, we should want to distinguish between questioning an Jewish individual's loyalty based on past and present behavior. But with this part of the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism, we are forbidden to even examine if any Jew's behavior to see if their loyalty to Israel is greater than that person's loyalty to their own country. Certainly, we should never examine without cause. But if there is sufficient evidence to indicate whether an individual is more loyal to Israel than to one's own nation, it should be considered to be anti-Semitic to question one's loyalty.
Now the question becomes this: Did Rep. Omar accuse any Jewish member of Congress of being more or equally loyal to Israel than to the U.S.? Considering that her first set of tweets revolved around her own struggles, the answer has to be no. If when talking about herself, people perceived her as suggesting something about others, there is not much to be done about that. Her tweets regarding others should be regarded as ambiguous at worst rather than clearly anti-Semitic.
The second problem with the State Department's definition of Israel is that it automatically counts any questioning of Israel's right to exist, assuming that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, as anti-Semitic. It should be very problematic for Americans to accept that part of the definition. Why? It is because then Israel would not resemble an American kind of Democracy . For most Americans do not picture the U.S. as being a white, conservative Protestant democracy that is suppose to revolve around a specific ethnic group. But that is how Israel pictures itself. Israel portrays itself as a Democracy but it is one that revolves around the Jewish people and thus it belongs to its Jewish citizens more than it belongs to non-Jewish citizens. Israeli activist whose organization tries to help Palestinians who are being dispossessed from the land, Jeff Halper, calls such a Democracy and ethnocracy. And regardless of what one wants to call it, it certainly doesn't follow Jefferson's spoken prescription for a Democracy--though neither did the Democracy he oversaw when he was the President.
What about the second set of tweets cited above? Again, Rep. Omar makes no reference to the Jewish people. The tweet that might incur the most wrath is the one regarding AIPAC. But that tweet does not even reference the Jewish people in general let alone scapegoat them. However, there is a group of people whom Rep. Omar accuses of wrong doing in the second set of tweets cited from above. That group of people consists of Senators and Congresspeople who have received financial aid/rewards from AIPAC, a lobbying organization. Is accusing elected officials of taking money from AIPAC for voting favors anti-Semitic in and of itself? Shouldn't the answer to that question depend on the accuracy of the accusations? After all, does the mere accusing of an American company like Boeing which employs lobbyists imply that one anti-Boeing? Again, only the reasonableness of the accusations can answer that question.
A third problem with the State Department's definition of anti-Semitism is not applicable regarding Rep. Omar's tweets and the reaction to those tweets from many of her colleagues.
That Rep. Omar has good reason to tweet what she did in the first set of tweets. Whether her comments about the influence of AIPAC were anti-Semitic depends on the reasonableness, not necessarily the veracity, of her accusations. And instead of addressing her concerns bout AIPAC's influence, the accusation of anti-Semitism was employed to distract people from examining her concerns. Thus, Rep. Omar is not facing reactions that are significantly different from those who express dissenting views on websites where there are high degrees of group think. Rep. Omar is basically facing defensiveness from those who accept money and/or favors from AIPAC and tribalism from those whose loyalty to Israel surpasses their loyalty to their own nation regardless of the citizenships they possess or to absolute morals and principles. And such loyalty is not unique to those who place that loyalty with Israel. Rather, such loyalty is a product of tribalism regardless of the object of one's loyalty.
References
- https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/04/omar-israel-house-democrats-1201881?fbclid=IwAR3FRYGBFf4cijoyyMaCmr5lPUbtFxaxqptgDpsErXI9Xl-uPVYY7iWAlL8
- https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1102317234125529088
- https://mondoweiss.net/2019/03/nothing-semitic-calling/?fbclid=IwAR3WCFoUwZgWdj99x7-AuxhE80AExSLyT3zIeYdoij9OpZrgGdM47qQtYdQ
- https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2019/feb/25/blog-posting/no-members-congress-dont-have-dual-citizenship-isr/
No comments:
Post a Comment